Specter 5 to Ghost
by Nin-jiom
Summary: A rather dark and serious take on Sabine's past on why she became a rebel.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, I'm new here and this is my first fanfiction so I'm still trying things out. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars: Rebels.

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><p>Sabine stood within a dimmed room within the Empire's Imperial Academy. The floor was a cold gray with two military officers observing, providing little heat on the sidelines. Sabine had topped every student in all of her trials and earned her rank of a level 5 student in the academy. Today, with two steel chairs in front of her, she was to annihilate the prisoners of war sitting in them as a test of her loyalty and ability to kill for the Empire. Muffled and with light brown tethered bags over their faces and cuffs around their hands behind their back, they sat, clothed in orange jumpsuits. Sabine's discouraged brown eyes stared down at her fingers, curiously feeling around the trigger of her gun, and the weight it carried. With the two finger signal from the commanding officer on her right, she raised her guns up promptly and pointed them at her two victims.<p>

Sabine wasn't told anything about who she was murdering or why. All she knew was that they were branded traitors of the Empire. To her, that was enough. All her life she was told to trust the Empire, as instructed by even her parents. Parents. Home. Mom. Dad. Sabine's thoughts wandered off to a scene back at home, with Mom playing pool with Dad and little Sabine trying to watch as a child but having to stand on a stool from her lack of height. The light was also dimly lit, with the spotlight on the center of the green pool table. Her small brown eyes wandered from the green of the table, to her father's balding head, to his nose, to his hands, to the worn eight ball, to her mother's competitive face, her outline, her smile. Her hands gripped the pool table to support herself. A little tighter, and tighter, and tighter… Bang! Brought back into reality, Sabine had pulled the triggers of both guns. The illusion of her mother's figure resonated in the prisoner of war that sat in front of her. A shiver ran down Sabine's spine as she felt the dying whispers of the prisoner she had just shot whisper, "I'm so sorry, S-"

"… Mom?" Sabine mouthed, having no courage to even dare whisper.

"Dad..?" Sabine glanced at the other figure lying limp in the chair before glancing back at her superior with a gleam of terror and anger in her eyes.

_No... It couldn't have been them. They wouldn't have – They're not traitors –They.._ Sabine stuttered in her own thought. However, the hint of a grin she saw in her superior's face confirmed her fears. To cut off ties and prevent the risk a loose end in future missions, the hidden test of loyalty was murdering your own parents.

Sabine's throat tightened, her chest burdened, legs weakened. Her eyes enflamed but released no tears.

Sabine did not break.


	2. Chapter 2

"Excellent work, Sabine. You are dismissed." The commanding officer turned patted Sabine's shoulder. "Now there will be no future complications." He whispered under his breath as he walked out.

Back at Sabine's quarters, she climbed into the bottom bunk bed staring blankly at her hands with her legs hanging loosely off the side of the bed. Her roommate, Dhara Leonis, trotted in.

"Hey Sabine!" Dhara laughed as she took off her helmet, "Listen to this! I just— Oh, did I come in at a bad moment?" A tiny smile tugged at Sabine's lips as she nodded. Dhara and Sabine had been roommates since they first enrolled in the academy. A habit of Sabine's was to sit on Dhara's bunk bed whenever she was feeling down, despite having her own bed on top.

"Well, it's not the first time considering our line of work. What's wrong, boo?" Dhara sat down next to Sabine and put her arm round her, looking into Sabine's sorrow-filled eyes.

"I killed them. I. Killed. My. Own. parents…" Sabine said slowly but clearly, as if she was taking in each word a spoonful at a time, feeling the full weight off what they meant.

"It wasn't your fault, Sabine. You know that." Dhara's face darkened for a moment as she recalled a similar experience, but she sighed, closed her eyes, and continued, "Dear parents, did you know how amazing your daughter is? Your baby girl saved a group of students from a hungry rancor, even though she was scolded for her kindness. When another student stole from her, she let them keep her credits to help pay for that student's family's illness. When you kissed your daughter to sleep, you kissed the face of a future hero and my best friend, but I'm sure you already know that." Dhara hugged Sabine and pressed Sabine's head on her chest. "I have no doubt that your parents are proud of who you've become, how you've grown. They don't blame you. I don't blame you. No one blames you, so stop blaming yourself.

Before Dhara finished, a tear left Sabine's eye for the first time since her parents' death. Only a few more seconds past before she was in complete disarray, sobbing and clutching at Dhara's chest. As Dhara held her, she reminisced to when she was holding her younger brother, Zare, in her arms, but her grip tightened as she grimaced, remembering the details of the next mission she and Sabine were to go on together the next day…


End file.
